Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/30—Inkjet printing inks
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/30—Inkjet printing inks
  • C09D11/32—Inkjet printing inks characterised by colouring agents
  • C09D11/322—Pigment inks
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/54—Inks based on two liquids, one liquid being the ink, the other liquid being a reaction solution, a fixer or a treatment solution for the ink

Definitions

• the present invention relates to ink-jet systems, methods, and fast-drying durable images.
• ink-jet inks and other recording solutions Various substances have been used to formulate ink-jet inks and other recording solutions in an attempt to meet the above objectives. Some of these substances have been included are pigments and/or dyes to provide color to the image, water and/or water-soluble organic solvents to provide a liquid composition that functions properly within ink-jet equipment, surfactants of various ionic character to provide decreased surface tension at various liquid interfaces, dispersants for enhancing solubility characteristics, and various other solution characteristic modifiers such as viscosity modifiers, pH adjustors, antiseptics, antioxidants, chelating agents, biocides, and the like.
• Printing media has also been modified to utilize a variety of substances, including various binding materials to improve recording parameters.
• binding materials can include inorganic porous coatings, such as silica and alumina, or swellable organic coatings, such as gelatins and other similar compositions. These materials can be coated on a paper or other substrate to provide improvement in image quality when an ink-jet ink is printed thereon, as is generally known in the art.
• a development in the ink-jet printing area has been the use of ink-jet inks concurrent with another solution in a two pen ink system.
• Such other solutions can be formulated to operate with the ink to provide more durable images and/or enhancement in image color and clarity.
• pigment-based ink-jet systems can have relatively slow drying times due in part to the vehicle components typically used to disperse the pigments and maintain customary long term reliability and durability during use and storage. Another reason for the lack of optimal performance can be related to the presence of certain binders often present in these pigment-based ink-jet ink compositions. Many binders known to be used can improve permanence greatly, but can actually slow the drying process.
• a system for ink-jet printing fast-drying durable images can comprise a porous media substrate, an ink-jet ink including a self-dispersed pigment and a polyurethane binder, and a fixing fluid including a crashing agent.
• the ink-jet ink can be configured for printing on the porous media substrate, and the fixing fluid can be configured for being overprinted or underprinted with respect to the ink-jet ink.
• a method for ink-jet printing fast-drying durable images can comprise the steps of (a) jetting an ink-jet ink including a self-dispersed pigment and a polyurethane binder onto a porous media substrate; and (b) jetting a fixing fluid onto the porous media substrate, wherein the fixing fluid includes a crashing agent, and wherein the fixing fluid is underprinted or overprinted with respect to the ink-jet ink.
• an ink-jet printed image on a substrate can comprise a porous media substrate, and at least two fluids printed thereon.
• the at least two fluids can include an ink-jet ink including a self-dispersed pigment and a polyurethane binder, and a fixing fluid including a crashing agent.
• the fixing fluid can be overprinted or underprinted with respect to the ink-jet ink.
• the ink-jet ink provides color to the image, and the fixing fluid can provide durability to the image.
• the combination of the ink-jet ink and the fixing fluid on the substrate can provide a fast-drying durable image.
• an ink includes reference to one or more of such inks.
• an ink-jet system can comprise a porous media substrate, an ink-jet ink, and a fixing fluid.
• the porous media substrate can be configured for receiving ink-jet ink and/or fixing fluid.
• the ink-jet ink can comprise a self-dispersed pigment and a polyurethane binder, and can further be configured for printing directly on the porous media substrate, or onto a preprinted fixing fluid, depending on whether the ink-jet ink is overprinted or underprinted with respect to the fixing fluid.
• the fixing fluid can comprise a crashing agent, which is configured to crash one or more components present in the ink-jet ink. As stated, the fixing fluid can be jetted onto the substrate either before (underprinted) or after (overprinted) the ink-jet ink.
• the dispersant polymer can be directly covalently linked to the pigment.
• exemplary self-dispersed pigments are commercially available such as CaboJet 200, CaboJet 300, and the like. Such self-dispersed pigment can be present in the ink-jet ink at from 1 wt% to 10 wt%, or any incremental range therein.
• a dispersant polymer attached and/or chemically tethered to a pigment can provide the resulting self-dispersed pigment with enhanced solubility.
• An example of such a dispersant polymer includes water-soluble polymeric resin(s), as long as the resin(s) function to stabilize and disperse the pigment in solution.
• a polymeric resin that can be used includes those having a weight average molecular weight in a range of 1,000 Mw to 30,000 Mw, or any incremental range therein.
• the polymer can have a weight average molecular weight in a range from 3,000 Mw to 10,000 Mw.
• the resin can be a polymer, block copolymer, triblock copolymer, graft copolymer, random copolymer, or the like.
• the polymer can include one or more monomers with characteristics such as hydrophilic, hydrophobic, neutral, cationic, anionic, amphoteric, and combinations thereof.
• the fixing fluid can include a liquid vehicle and a crashing agent, and the combination can be configured to be ink-jettable.
• colorant can be present in the fixing fluid
• a substantially colorless fixing fluid exemplifies a typical embodiment.
• the crashing agent can be any crashing agent that acts to crash one or more ink-jet ink component, thereby improving durability and waterfastness of an ink-jet ink image printed on a media substrate.
• any functional amount of crashing agent can be present in the fixing fluid, from about 0.5 wt% to 8.0 wt% can be included.
• the crashing agent can be polymeric and/or include ionic groups, which can be either cationic or anionic.
• crashing agent is a polymeric ionic (cationic) crashing agent such as a polyamine.
• a polyamine crashing agent can have a weight average molecular weight from about 200 Mw to 50000 Mw, though any function molecular weight can be used.
• polyamines can include those selected from the group consisting of polyguanidine, polyethylenimine, polyvinylpyridine, polyvinylamine, polyallylamine, polyacrylamine, polyacrylamide, polyquaternaryamine, cationic polyurethane, aminecellulose, polysacchride amine, and combinations thereof.
• acidic agents can be included in functional amounts, examples of which include succinic acid, glycolic acid, citric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, polyacrylic acid, acetic acid, malonic acid, maleic acid, ascorbic acid, glutaric acid, fumaric acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid, nitrous acid, boric acid, carbonic acid, carboxylic acids such as formic acid, chloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, fluoroacetic acid, trimethylacetic acid, methoxyacetic acid, mercaptoacetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, rinolic acid, rinoleic acid, cyclohexanecarboxylic acid,
• liquid vehicles and components described herein are applicable with respect to both the ink-jet ink and the fixing fluid. It is understood that these components are exemplary and do not limit the scope of vehicle components that can be used. In some embodiments of the present invention it may be favorable for the liquid vehicle to comprise water-soluble organic solvents, co-solvents, and other additives as a liquid medium.
• the balance of any embodiment formulation can be purified water, or other vehicle component known in the art.
• the water-soluble organic solvents and/or co-solvents that can be used in the present invention include, but is not limited to, dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, 1,2-hexanediol, triethylene glycol, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, thiodiglycol, hexylene glycol, diethylene glycol, ethylene glycol methyl ether, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether, triethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethanol isopropyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, glycerol, n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethylimidazolidinone, triethanolamine, sulfolane, dimethyl sulfoxide, and the like, as well as other amines, ketones, ether
• the liquid vehicle can comprise humectants.
• Humectants can be present to enhance the longevity of solution and solubility characteristics, which can be maintained by retention of moisture within the liquid vehicle.
• humectants include, but are not limited to, nitrogen-containing compounds such as urea, thiourea, ethylene urea, alkylurea, alkylthiourea, dialkylurea, dialkylthiourea; sugars such as 1-deoxy-D-galactitol, mannitol, and inositol, and combinations thereof.
• additives can be used to optimize the properties of the ink composition for specific applications.
• these additives are those added to inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms.
• These additives may be biocides, fungicides, and other microbial agents, which are routinely used in liquid vehicle formulations.
• suitable microbial agents include, but are not limited to, Nuosept (Nudex, Inc.), Ucarcide (Union carbide Corp.), Vancide (R.T. Vanderbilt Co.), Proxel (ICI America), and combinations thereof.
• Sequestering agents such as EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid) and the like, may be included to eliminate the deleterious effects of heavy metal impurities.
• Example 1 Ink-jet inks and physical properties
• ink-jet ink compositions were prepared using different formulations to test for variations in dry time and durability.
• Five of the ink formulations were prepared with polyurethane (B, D, E, F, and G), and two inks were prepared without polyurethane (A and C).
• the physical properties were measured to determine the surface tension and viscosity of each ink formulation.
• the resultant ink-jet ink compositions and corresponding physical properties are shown in Tables 1a and 1b below.
• Ink-jet ink compositions Ink-jet ink composition (wt%) A B C D E F G Cabot black pigment IJX 600 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 10% Joncryl 586/water 18.0 8.0 18.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 Polyurethane 3570 Mw, 60 acid value 0.0 1.8 0.0 1.8 1.6 1.2 1.8 1,3-Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-5,5-dimethylhydantoin 7.0 7.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 2-pyrrolidone 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 1,2-hexanediol 4.0 4.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 Ethoxylated Glycerol 1.5 1.5 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Water bal bal bal bal bal bal bal bal bal bal Ink-jet ink physical properties Ink-jet ink physical properties A B C D E F G Surface tension (dynes/cm) 36.3 35.5 39.6 35.2 35.1 35.2 35.6 Vi
• a fixing fluid was prepared to be tested with the ink-jet inks of Example 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
• the fixing fluid composition and physical properties are shown in Tables 2a and 2b below.
• Fixing fluid composition Fixing Fluid Composition wt% Succinic acid 4.00 Poly(hexamethylene biguanide) 2.44 Ethoxylated 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol 0.30 3,5-dimethyl-1-hexyn-3-ol 0.25 1,3-Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-5,5-dimethylhydantoin 6.00 2-pyrrolidone 6.00 Tinolux 0.25 Water bal Fixing fluid physical properties Fixing Fluid physical properties Surface tension (dynes/cm) 28.46 Viscosity (cps) 1.64 pH 3.94

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Inks, Pencil-Leads, Or Crayons (AREA)
• Ink Jet (AREA)
• Ink Jet Recording Methods And Recording Media Thereof (AREA)

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